MathJax

2011-03-29

Adobe Photoshop Flare Effects

We all know about the powers which Adobe Photoshop possesses within itself. With newer and newer effects and properties being added to play around with; there is something named Flare Effect in it. Flare is something you notice in a picture taken with an intense source of light in the background. It gives a shine to metal objects; eyes etc. in the picture. This effect can be easily inserted into any image anywhere now. Here's how:

Open file

First of all; open the image you want to add flare effects to in Adobe Photoshop. I am using Adobe Photoshop CS5 for this tutorial. The file used for the same has been already colored by me and was drawn by my friend "Tarun".

Unlocking Base Background layer

Next; either unlock the base background layer; or duplicate it. I would recommend unlocking it. Just double click on the lock icon in the layers panel.

Unlocking Layers

After you double click on the lock; you'll be presented by the screen shown here. I am naming this layer now as 'girl'. You may name it anything you want. The names do not affect the final result.

Multiply Mode

After the above step, change the mode property in the same window to 'Multiply'.

Creating New Layer

Now, create a new layer just above the layer 'girl' and simultaneously press "Shit + BKSP" to open up a new window shown and told about in next step.

Fill Layer with Color

Here you may change the properties of the layers. Hence, chose Color in the Use property. This is to fill the whole layer with uniform color.

Chose Color

A color picking window shall be presented to you. Also; the mouse cursor changes to color picker when you move around anywhere(even outside of Photoshop Window) to chose color. Here I shall be using pure Black color.

Adding Lens Flare

After choosing color, you will see the screen as shown here. The Lens Flare is an inbuilt effect in Adobe Photoshop; and you'll find it in Filter > Render > Lens Flare...Click and chose this filter to be applied on newly created layer.

Change to Screen Mode

Set the screen mode for this layer as "Screen" for the flare to look natural(which it isn't). This can be done as shown in this adjoining image.

Chose Move Tool

Move Flare to desired position

The change in layer modes effects the view of the image. As you will notice; now the flare can be seen effectively on the layer 'girl'. Now we only have to set it at some position of our choice. This is achieved by the 'Move Tool'. After setting the flare to the desired position; we may stop and work on other effects.

After achieving the required position and effect; I applied a similar flare to the girl's right eye. And the final result is as depicted below.